Archers thread #152: The Dog Days of Summer in Ambridge! Rabid rants, tearoom dogfight, Bully Dog George gets it all on camera. Is Lone wolf Rob waiting in the woods? Discuss The Archers here!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd love a son like George, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please! We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Starting this new thread a bit early, as we're near the end of the last thread and I'm out all day today. As last night's episode was a banger, I thought I'd better ensure discussion can continue seamlessly!

The original idea for a dog theme for this thread came from the death of poor Weaver. RIP. The Dog Days of summer are associated with storms and the silly season, so quite appropriate for The Archers at the moment! They may technically be over now, as it's all to do with the heliacal rising of the Dog Star, Sirius (no, me neither), but apparently the Anglo-Saxons considered they lasted into September (thank you, Wikipedia), so that will do for me.

So - what next for Helen, Henry and Jack? Surely even the Bridge Farm Archers will see that she needs professional help? After her outburst the other night they might finally grasp that Henry could do with some too. All very grim.

On the lighter side (perhaps), whither Pip and Stella?

Over to you!

Aaaaanyway, wonder what the plan is now for George. Murdering Ron, The army? Being sent to a relative outside of the enclave?

And Tasher clearly has plans for the tearoom and Emma that don't include Fallon.

I didn’t mean it like that, @BoreOfWhabylon! I thought it might be worth going back to for anyone who missed it. (And then I began to doubt my own memory, so …)

No, I know you weren't being snide Totters, but credit where it's due and all that

Aaaarghh! I don't mean credit is due to me! Credit to the hive mind!

Are you me? This is exactly my experience!

As far as I recall, Emma did the classic pre-GCSE thing of doing minimal work for years, concentrating on having fun and messing about, and then suddenly trying to make up for lost time with last minute revision at Easter and early in the summer term. Unfortunately, this didn't work and she decided that there was no point in trying any more, so against Susan's wishes she left education and got a job. She managed a short catering-related course later, but she's never had the time, the money, the energy and the mental space to go back into education in the years since. Same story for her Mum, who could have done so much more with her life if she'd had the chance.

I must confess that during Emma’s gcses I was only listening when my mum happened to have it on. I thought she was the brains of the love triangle and the accident had knocked her off a glorious future course

She was expressing an interest in reading more recently though. Maybe we will see a late blooming of Emma s/l

I don't know what to say! I thought it would be a quiet week with change counting and harvesting or something.

Isn’t a big part of the tearoom the baking? Fallon is needed for that surely?

Another great episode. Emma showing what she is really feeling at last. I felt really sorry for her actually. She must be feeling devastated and drained trying to hold her role as George's mum together. No wonder she's dropping crockery in the tearoom. Great acting all round from everyone.

Yes, that was a ery good episode. Do we know who wrote it?

It's somehow so satisfying that George effectively got himself sacked in a way that none of his relatives can conceivably condone. I wonder if he thought he was going to lose the job anyway so there was nothing to lose?

Answering my own question, I see the writer is Tim Stimpson. That figures.

What’s Gnasher up to?

Sometimes she is just plain and simply kind (Kirsty and Blake SL for example) which is what makes her interesting but washing up for Emma feels like a bridge too far…

Helen is going to hit the roof when she finds out about the video online. Will it be Henry that tells her?

Re Helen hate … if the SWs were to say to us “we’re thinking of killing off one-of the character, and we’re not sure whether it should be Helen or Pip, so we thought we’d ask you to have a vote” who do you think we’d vote for? My money would be on Pip.

We didn't hear Emma, or hear of her all that much, during her GCSEs.

The brains of the love triangle was Will, who got I think it was seven GCSEs after being told by George Barford that if he didn't, George would not take him as an apprentice. Ed didn't even bother to turn up for his.

By 2001 (the following year) when Ed nearly killed her by driving a stolen car badly, she had already given up any idea of college or school.

Pip every time for me too. Helen is a loathsome creature, but she is well-acted.

Ah ok- I guess I missed all of that!!

I remember Pip being born. Her character development has been minimal which is a shame - feel as if the current storyline has been borne out of “what can we do with pip” rather than being organic.

@MereDintofPandiculation , Pip definitely. Helen is a far more interesting character and it would be too bad for Tony and Pat to have two of their three children predecease them. The Helen actor is very good and Pip's delivery seems a bit off.
I don't like the way that Pip has always been the favoured child.

Pip would definitely be my write-out of choice. She just irritates me every time she turns up, and I too hate the way she can do no wrong whilst Josh can do nothing right. I wasn't too impressed, either, by the fact that apparently it was fine for Ben to run the B&B after a breakdown and whilst holding down a tough caring job, but it's all too much for Pip to do.

Pips delivery is very jarring

Pip's main problem is the actor who plays her. Is it bad form to say that? But I really can't be doing with the constant gulping and err-ing. No one speaks like that either naturalistically or realistically

I think Natasha was trying to poach Emma for a job in juice promotion. Fallon will be furious, tell the Archers to stick their tearooms contract and pack off to Justin’s charging station cafe.

so Natasha is in for 5 mins and has already rearranged the tea room to be more efficient - yet she thinks Emma is a retail genius for never having thought of these things